Kristina: What surprised you about Prime Day this year?
Marcel Hollerbach, CMO, Productsup: Prior to the actual sales event, the timing of Amazon Prime Day was unprecedented compared to previous years. With the event having been moved from July to October, it will be interesting to see how other retailers use Amazon Prime Day's results to gauge their own Cyber Monday and Black Friday success given these sales events are happening so close together.
Additionally, with each year, Amazon Prime Day is expanding to become an event for all of retail. This year, third-party sellers saw more than $3.5 billion in sales during Amazon Prime Day, while independent retailers broke sales records of their own. This signals growth for small businesses and third-party vendors across the board.
Kristina: Based on Prime Day performance, what do you think retailers can expect from 2021?
Marcel: Retailers can expect huge increases in e-commerce orders this holiday season. Both Amazon Prime Day's success and Walmart's Q3 earnings show consumers are buying more online than in-store than ever before, and retailers need to be prepared for that.
Most importantly, retailers must ensure they're set up consistently across all selling platforms because consumers will scour multiple sites to find the best deals. Instead of just committing to shopping Amazon Prime Day, consumers will add items to their carts and then check several other retailers to see if a lower price is available.
Kristina: How should retailers approach their 2021 strategy?
Marcel: In 2021, online and mobile will still remain the primary form of shopping. Having a streamlined strategy for omni-channel selling while also tailoring product catalogues to each specific platform is top priority for retailers. Social selling will continue to increase, as more and more consumers want the ability to shop and scroll within the same app, so strategies to integrate products into platforms are also important.
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